Trackers

[Jcloughie]

I think a big issue is if someone is using a tracker that is not recognised by the police, the police would be reluctant to respond to a call about a stolen caravan as they have no way of knowing if the call is genuine or not.
Secondly it is unlikely that the police will take instructions from a member of the public telling the police where the caravan is going plus the fact that the call has to be relayed via a police call centre so by the time the police in the vehicle get the instruction, the thieves may have gone down another road. Lastly there is always the danger it is a hoax call.
However if the call was coming from a known reputable tracking centre like Tracker or Phantom Tracker, they will probably respond

Don't agree with that Ian. If the owner reports it as stolen on what grounds can they dispute it. Also, there is no need to deal through a third party. With the username and password, the police can track it directly.

But I would agree they may provide a faster response to a recognised company with agreements and protocols set up.

If I reported my van as stolen to the police and they did not believe me, I would be somewhat upset.

John

 

[Buckman]

Don't agree with that Ian. If the owner reports it as stolen on what grounds can they dispute it. Also, there is no need to deal through a third party. With the username and password, the police can track it directly.

But I would agree they may provide a faster response to a recognised company with agreements and protocols set up.

If I reported my van as stolen to the police and they did not believe me, I would be somewhat upset.

John

How will the police know that it is a genuine complaint and not a hoax call? The police probably get dozens of hoax calls every day. How do you confirm yours is genuine?
Even if the police did have the time to access the tracking software using a username and password it still has to go via the police call centre and it is highly unlikely that a person in the call centre will be able to access the tracking software. If they are, then directions still need to be relayed onto the driver of the police vehicle. This all takes time and gives the thieves more time to disappear.

 

[Jcloughie]

How will the police know that it is a genuine complaint and not a hoax call? The police probably get dozens of hoax calls every day. How do you confirm yours is genuine?
Even if the police did have the time to access the tracking software using a username and password it still has to go via the police call centre and it is highly unlikely that a person in the call centre will be able to access the tracking software. If they are, then directions still need to be relayed onto the driver of the police vehicle. This all takes time and gives the thieves more time to disappear.

There is no tracking software needed, anyone can track with a laptop, smartphone or computer.

I believe the police should consider any call to be genuine and deal with the very odd hoax appropriately later. They will have the username and password you give them and can verify this on line.

I feel sure that police cars must be equipped with internet access and laptops as standard.

I am not knocking tracking companies, and, like you say, Phantom are good value for money. Also they are a safer and simpler option. But they do not do route history, which is the main point of this topic.

What I am saying IF the cheap units do as they say they can do, it fills that need for some people. I have taken the plunge and bought one to see if it does as well as it is advertised.

Certainly fleet operators use them and seem content. But their main objective is to know where all their vehicles are in real time. And to provide a history in case of disputes. Not too dissimilar to what I am looking for.

The topic has wandered into the security aspect in which the likes of Phantom are no doubt superior. And the history aspect has been skimped somewhat.

John

 

[otherclive]

I doubt if they can track a caravan being towed using ANPR as no info.

Assuming it still has number plates it can be tracked by ANPR. The one stolen from our storage site some years back still had the correct plates on the caravan but they differed from the towing vehicle.

 

[JezzerB]

Totally agree; a Land rover -the original and highly stolen one, was pinched from our village and the police tracked as far as York on their cameras-across Dunham Bridge and up the A1 before it disappeared.. Around here police stop LAndrovers on the road at night as a matter of course just to check they aren't stolen-great idea imo. Just been up the road to drop off essential shopping to the father in laws and there was a speed camera unit in a village where habitual speeders are rife-really hope they caught a lot as the driving round here is nuts.

 

[Raywood]

Not sure myself, it depends if they can read the back number plate to track the caravan as it ism unlikely they will have the towing vehicle number. Possibly if they can spot the caravan being towed they can get the number and take it from there. Possibly depends on how busy they are and if they have the time.

 

[otherclive]

Not sure myself, it depends if they can read the back number plate to track the caravan as it ism unlikely they will have the towing vehicle number. Possibly if they can spot the caravan being towed they can get the number and take it from there. Possibly depends on how busy they are and if they have the time.

Have you seen the degree of resolution that an ANPR camera provides. If the caravan number plate is correctly mounted and reasonably clean it can be recognised even at night.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Except for some defined heritage rules UK number plates are required to have a reflective background white on the front and yellow on the rear. Both plates must use a 80µm reflective film. The ANPR systems tend to use infrared or near infrared light for the detection system , and as such its less affected by atmospheric pollutants or sun light reflections. The system will work with either white or yellow plates. It will depend on the the way the system has been set up as to which plates it will respond.

This APNR system is usually also takes a a conventional visible light picture which is used as supplementary evidence of identity of the vehicle.

Some of the systems these day take very detailed pictures and have been able to identify the driver to prevent offending drivers avoiding prosecution by claiming someone else was driving.

Some have actually caught drivers using mobile phones whilst being photographed when speeding.

I think its safe to assume that as technology advances and more camera's will be deployed and increasingly used to automatically detect offences like use of telephones by drivers> networks of camera's will spot erratic /dangerous driving and other offences. Whether caravan tracking systems might evolve to automatically trigger road side cameras so there is better evidence available to identify thieves who knows.

 

[ProfJohnL]

How will the police know that it is a genuine complaint and not a hoax call? The police probably get dozens of hoax calls every day....

Unfortunately that is an issue the police have to deal with across all their areas of operation. I suspect how each force responds to such matters will be set out by their own Chief Police officer in concoction with the the local body that controls the force. Therefore there may not be a consistent UK wide approach to dealing with hoax callers.

 

[Raywood]

Have you seen the degree of resolution that an ANPR camera provides. If the caravan number plate is correctly mounted and reasonably clean it can be recognised even at night.

The problem I see here is not the cameras ability to read the number plate but if it only reads the front one it will not flag up the stolen caravan as the number on the towing vehicle will not be the one the police are looking for. The police would have to identify the vehicle using the caravan on the rear which could be difficult and then check the number plate and then look for that. Possibly too time consuming for the police.

 

[otherclive]

The problem I see here is not the cameras ability to read the number plate but if it only reads the front one it will not flag up the stolen caravan as the number on the towing vehicle will not be the one the police are looking for. The police would have to identify the vehicle using the caravan on the rear which could be difficult and then check the number plate and then look for that. Possibly too time consuming for the police.

I’d agree too time consuming as even domestic burglary doesn’t get fast response given the large reduction in police numbers since the fiscal crash and their other priorities. At least if a caravan is insured the owner gets their payout.

 

[Buckman]

The other thing with ANPR is that it is reactive so by the time the police are notified of the stolen vehicle the thieves are long gone and probably on another road without ANPR. ANPR can identify untaxed, uninsured vehicles, etc, but cannot stop them. The owner of the vehicle in question will get a fine in the post several days later.

 

[otherclive]

The other thing with ANPR is that it is reactive so by the time the police are notified of the stolen vehicle the thieves are long gone and probably on another road without ANPR. ANPR can identify untaxed, uninsured vehicles, etc, but cannot stop them. The owner of the vehicle in question will get a fine in the post several days later.

ANPR can be programmed to indicate when a vehicle of interest is recorded. But I’d think an errant caravan doesn’t come very high on the priority lists.

 

[Jcloughie]

Now got both tracker and o2 sim card. Tracker looks fine but time will tell on how well it works. Put my phone sim in and it registered OK and reported it's setting via text, but I don't want to register that sim with the tracking company.

My O2 sim has proved to be a complete nightmare to set up. It HAS to be done with it in a phone to receive a security code. I cant use my IPhone as that has vodafone settings on it. And as soon as I put the O2 card in it wants to change carrier and number. If that goes wrong I will be forever trying to reset my configuration. So I tried 2 old androids, No good as they are locked to EE. I have an ancient Nokia. and that worked, I got the code and used the internet to create the account and load some cash onto it.

Whoopi thought I.

But the tracker or the Nokia will not register to the card. O2 are going to send a new card to me.

O2 said they do not recommend their cards for trackers as they cant recieve the security messages, or balance checks.

I said they need to check their advertising which says that this sim is ideal for trackers.

John

 

[Jcloughie]

Just an Update.

I have concluded that if a tracker is wanted the Phantom does offer good value when compared to others for the 5 year license. But it will not give the journey history.

So I figured purchasing a reasonable quality, non Thatcham, tracker was not worth the expense. Might as well stick with the Phantom and figure another method for the tracking.

But, just to test things, I bought a cheapo one, it simply plugs into the OBD port in the car.

What a load of trouble. first one went back, second one was their unrated model. Also a load of trouble.

• I could see it had already been registered by another person.
• The instructions are a disgrace.
• The unit does not always accept commands.
• The software has no instructions and is partly in Chinese.
• Is uses data about 5 times faster than advertised. so would be about £10/month and not less than £2.

Just packing now for the return.

Good news, Amazon have been easy to return to.

Here is a picture of my journey today.


Strangely it shows that the trip was 30km, It said 8km at first which would have been closer.

John

 

[otherclive]

Just an Update.

I have concluded that if a tracker is wanted the Phantom does offer good value when compared to others for the 5 year license. But it will not give the journey history.

So I figured purchasing a reasonable quality, non Thatcham, tracker was not worth the expense. Might as well stick with the Phantom and figure another method for the tracking.

But, just to test things, I bought a cheapo one, it simply plugs into the OBD port in the car.

What a load of trouble. first one went back, second one was their unrated model. Also a load of trouble.

• I could see it had already been registered by another person.
• The instructions are a disgrace.
• The unit does not always accept commands.
• The software has no instructions and is partly in Chinese.
• Is uses data about 5 times faster than advertised. so would be about £10/month and not less than £2.

Just packing now for the return.

Good news, Amazon have been easy to return to.

Here is a picture of my journey today.

View attachment 1262
Strangely it shows that the trip was 30km, It said 8km at first which would have been closer.

John

I think that if I need to see the history of my trips I will continue to use my Garmin which I can download if required onto a map. I used to do this when I went serious off roading so that I could archive the trips for future usage. When you are in the heart of the Cambrian Mountains or even Salisbury Plain it gets to the stage where one turn looks very much like another. Especially when the focus of your attention is maintaining forward progress in a non damaging mode.

 

[Jcloughie]

When I did own a TomTom I don't think it did that. Pretty sure my Volvo one does not. I have moved over to phone apps for my Sat Nav. and I favour the Garmin for that. But I don't think it has the history option. I will check in the future.

My main thought was not so much the journey itself but the destinations. What I will try to do in future is log onto my Phantom account from the destination, and take a screenshot of the map. then add the date manually. Easy enough but a bit of a faff.

John

 

[otherclive]

When I did own a TomTom I don't think it did that. Pretty sure my Volvo one does not. I have moved over to phone apps for my Sat Nav. and I favour the Garmin for that. But I don't think it has the history option. I will check in the future.

My main thought was not so much the journey itself but the destinations. What I will try to do in future is log onto my Phantom account from the destination, and take a screenshot of the map. then add the date manually. Easy enough but a bit of a faff.

John

You might find UK reference finder worth a look it allows addresses and post codes to be converted to latitude and longitude, grid reference and what3words, and vice versa. It also has export of data capability.

 

[Jcloughie]

You might find UK reference finder worth a look it allows addresses and post codes to be converted to latitude and longitude, grid reference and what3words, and vice versa. It also has export of data capability.

Yes and no.

What I mean is. Thinking back on touring holidays from many years ago. It is hard to think of when we went where, just where we stayed when we were there. And what order we did things in.

I realise that some are meticulous in keeping some form of dary, some do a spreadsheet. I admit to being lazy in this respect. Photos today have dates and location within there metadata. But the old photos I have do not and were never properly filed.

It's the whole of Europe I am thinking of. The what3words could prove useful though, and a novel way of keeping a record.

I also am aware that there are some smashing apps available. Some are free. These will diarise a trip. allowing you to add pictures and comments as you go or later. These are good. The problem I am afraid lies with me!

John

 

[Buckman]

Just an Update.

I have concluded that if a tracker is wanted the Phantom does offer good value when compared to others for the 5 year license. But it will not give the journey history.
John

The Phantom may not show journey history but it does show you mileage done in a month. In the last year we did a total of 885 miles. Lowest we have done for several years.

 

[Raywood]

ANPR can be programmed to indicate when a vehicle of interest is recorded. But I’d think an errant caravan doesn’t come very high on the priority lists.

My point was not that the camera could not pick up stolen vehicles, but the caravan would be on the back of a vehicle whose number would normally not be known, so would be difficult to track. It would only be spotted by looking at the images and picking out the make and model of the caravan and even that would not be anywhere near fool proof. Possibly if they used a stolen vehicle or false plates that might start the ball rolling.